Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

ABSTRACT

Provided is an information processing apparatus including: a motion control unit (107) that controls a motion of an autonomous moving body (10), in which, when transmitting/receiving internal data related to the autonomous moving body, the motion control unit causes the autonomous moving body to express execution of the transmission/reception of the internal data by an action.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus,an information processing method, and a program.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, a variety of devices having a recognition function havebeen developed. The above-described devices include an autonomous movingbody such as a robot that performs an autonomous motion on the basis ofa situation. Moreover, many techniques for changing actions which anautonomous moving body can take have been proposed. For example, PatentDocument 1 describes a device that changes such possible actions on thebasis of an action history or input from a user.

CITATION LIST Patent Document

-   Patent Document 1: International Publication No. 00/67961

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, the actionswhich the autonomous moving body can take are limited to predeterminedactions. Moreover, in a case where the actions which the autonomousmoving body can take change, the user does not always notice the changein the actions.

Solutions to Problems

According to the present disclosure, provided is an informationprocessing apparatus including: a motion control unit that controls amotion of an autonomous moving body, in which, whentransmitting/receiving internal data related to the autonomous movingbody, the motion control unit causes the autonomous moving body toexpress execution of the transmission/reception of the internal data byan action.

Moreover, according to the present disclosure, provided is aninformation processing method including: causing a processor to controla motion of an autonomous moving body; and causing the processor to,when transmitting/receiving internal data related to the autonomousmoving body, cause the autonomous moving body to express execution ofthe transmission/reception of the internal data by an action.

Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, provided is a programfor causing a computer to function as an information processingapparatus including: a motion control unit that controls a motion of anautonomous moving body, in which, when transmitting/receiving internaldata related to the autonomous moving body, the motion control unitcauses the autonomous moving body to express execution of thetransmission/reception of the internal data by an action.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of anautonomous moving body 10 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of actuators 570which the autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure includes.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a motion of each of the actuators 570which the autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure includes.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the motion of each of the actuators570 which the autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure includes.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a function of displays 510 which theautonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure includes.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing motion examples of the autonomous movingbody 10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of theautonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an overall flow intransmission/reception of internal data by the autonomous moving body 10according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the overall flow in thetransmission/reception of the internal data by the autonomous movingbody 10 according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 10A is a diagram for explaining an example of expressing, by anaction, execution of transmission/reception of information related torecognition processing by a motion control unit 107 according to thesame embodiment.

FIG. 10B is a diagram for explaining the example of expressing, by theaction, the execution of the transmission/reception of the informationrelated to the recognition processing by the motion control unit 107according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for conceptually explaining extraction of featurequantities related to the recognition processing according to the sameembodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of mutation ofinformation related to recognition processing by a datatransmission/reception unit 105 and a data mutation unit 106 accordingto the same embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of a probability thateach action expressing the transmission/reception of the informationrelated to the recognition processing according to the same embodimentis selected.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining transmission/reception ofinformation related to a convolutional neural network according to thesame embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an example of a flow of operationsrelated to the transmission/reception of the information related to therecognition processing by the autonomous moving bodies 10 according tothe same embodiment and related to the expression of thetransmission/reception.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining an action expressing execution oftransmission/reception of an environment map by the autonomous movingbody 10 according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining an example of an environment map andan attention level map, which are transmitted and received by theautonomous moving body 10 according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining an example of a flow of operationsrelated to transmission/reception of the environment map and theattention level map by the autonomous moving bodies 10 according to thesame embodiment and related to expression of execution of thetransmission/reception.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining an example of expressing, by anaction, transmission/reception of feature quantities for use in userrecognition by the autonomous moving bodies 10 according to the sameembodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the feature quantitiestransmitted/received by the autonomous moving bodies 10 according to thesame embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining clustering of feature quantities inuser recognition according to the same embodiment and mutation of thefeature quantities by a data mutation unit 106.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining an example of a flow of operationsrelated to transmission/reception of a user's feature quantity by theautonomous moving bodies 10 according to the same embodiment and relatedto expression of execution of the transmission/reception.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining an example of transmission/receptionof information for executing motions of the autonomous moving bodies 10according to the same embodiment and expression of thetransmission/reception by the autonomous moving body 10.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining an example of mutation of theinformation for executing the motions of the autonomous moving body 10according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining an example of the mutation of theinformation for executing the motions of the autonomous moving body 10according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining an example of the mutation of theinformation for executing the motions of the autonomous moving body 10according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining an example a flow oftransmission/reception of information for executing motions of theautonomous moving bodies 10 according to the same embodiment by theautonomous moving bodies 10 and of expressions related to execution ofthe transmission/reception by the autonomous moving bodies 10.

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining that a head-mounted displayexpresses execution of transmission/reception of internal data.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that, inthe present description and the drawings, constituent elements havingsubstantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the samereference numerals, whereby a duplicate description thereof will beomitted.

Note that the embodiments will be described in the following order.

1. Embodiment 1.1. Overview of autonomous moving body 10

1.2. Hardware configuration example of autonomous moving body 10

1.3. Functional configuration example of autonomous moving body 10

1.4. Specific example

2. Summary

1. First Embodiment

<<1.1. Overview of Autonomous Moving Body 10>>

First, an overview of an autonomous moving body 10 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure will be described. The autonomousmoving body 10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure isan information processing apparatus that executes estimation of asituation, which is based on collected sensor information, andautonomously selects and executes a variety of actions corresponding tothe situation. One of features of the autonomous moving body 10 is that,unlike a robot that simply performs a motion according to a user'sinstruction command, the autonomous moving body 10 autonomously executesan action presumed to be optimal for every situation.

Note that the autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure may be a dog-type information processingapparatus. One of the features of the autonomous moving body 10according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is that theautonomous moving body 10 does not have output means of visualinformation other than an emotional expression by eye movement orlanguage transmission means by voice. According to this feature, it ismade possible to achieve a more natural motion close to that of anactual dog, and to reduce user's discomfort to functions and exteriorwhich the autonomous moving body 10 has.

The autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure can execute a predetermined action on the basis of internaldata. Here, the internal data refers to, for example, informationrelated to recognition processing and information for causing theautonomous moving body 10 to execute a motion (this information willalso be referred to as control sequence data). Moreover, the internaldata includes information for executing an action corresponding toinformation related to recognition of a recognition target. Furthermore,the action executed by the autonomous moving body 10 includes a motionof the autonomous moving body 10 itself, an action including therecognition processing, and the like.

Here, the above-described control sequence data (information for causingthe autonomous moving body 10 to execute a motion) is informationincluding control signals related to a time-series change in a rotationposition of a joint portion which the autonomous moving body 10 has, aneyeball expression and sound output thereof. That is, the controlsequence data can also be said to be setting data for causing theautonomous moving body 10 to achieve an arbitrary action.

The autonomous moving body 10 executes the recognition processing, themotion, and the like, and is thereby capable of changing a type of theinternal data stored in that autonomous moving body 10. For example, theautonomous moving body 10 autonomously learns an object encountered forthe first time, and becomes able to recognize the object.

Incidentally, in a case of an apparatus that does not have explicitinformation transmission means to the user, it may be difficult for theuser to clearly grasp a state of the apparatus. For example, theautonomous moving body 10 has a function to execute an action based on avariety of internal data. However, unlike a display function mounted ina smartphone and the like, it is difficult for the user to determinewhether or not the autonomous moving body 10 has the internal data untilthe action based on the internal data is expressed.

Moreover, types of the internal data which can be acquired by eachautonomous moving body 10 may have a limit, for example, due to factorssuch as a limitation of an action range of the autonomous moving body10. Hence, variations of the action corresponding to the acquisition arealso limited. Moreover, depending on the recognition target, it may taketime to learn the same. Furthermore, in a similar way, also with regardto such motions of the autonomous moving body 10, for example, a gestureand the like, there may be a limit to learning motions other thanmotions predetermined for the autonomous moving body 10.

The technical idea according to the present disclosure has beenconceived by paying attention to the above-described points, in whichthe autonomous moving body 10 acquires more diverse internal data, thusenabling the user to enjoy the autonomous moving body 10 without causingthe user to get tired. Moreover, the user grasps the execution oftransmission/reception of the internal data by the autonomous movingbody 10, thus making it possible to enjoy the change of the autonomousmoving body 10 more in real time.

The configuration of the autonomous moving body 10 that achieves theabove-described features will be described in detail below. Note thatthe autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be an autonomous mobile robot that autonomously moves inspace and executes various movements. The autonomous moving body 10 maybe, for example, an autonomous mobile robot that has a shape imitatingan animal such as a human and a dog and has a moving ability. Moreover,the autonomous moving body 10 may be, for example, a vehicle or otherapparatus, which has an ability to communicate with the user. Withregard to the autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure, a shape thereof and levels of ability, desireand the like thereof can be appropriately designed according to thepurpose and the role.

<<1.2. Hardware Configuration Example of Autonomous Moving Body 10>>

Next, a hardware configuration example of the autonomous moving body 10according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.Note that, in the following, a case where the autonomous moving body 10is a dog-shaped quadruped walking robot will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of theautonomous moving body 10 according the embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the autonomous moving body 10 is adog-shaped quadruped walking robot having a head, a body, four legs, anda tail. Moreover, the autonomous moving body 10 includes two displays510 on the head.

Furthermore, the autonomous moving body 10 includes a variety ofsensors. The autonomous moving body 10 includes, for example,microphones 515, cameras 520, a time of flight (ToF) sensor 525, a humansensor 530, a distance measuring sensor 535, touch sensors 540, anilluminance sensor 545, sole buttons 550, and inertial sensors 555.

(Microphones 515)

The microphones 515 have a function to collect ambient sounds. Theabove-described sounds include, for example, user's utterances andambient environmental sounds. The autonomous moving body 10 may beprovided with, for example, four microphones on the head. The autonomousmoving body 10 includes such a plurality of microphones 515, whereby itis made possible to collect, with high sensitivity, sounds generated inthe surroundings, and to achieve localization of a sound source.

(Cameras 520)

The cameras 520 have a function to image the user and the ambientenvironment. The autonomous moving body 10 may be provided with, forexample, two wide-angle cameras at the tip of the nose and the haunch.In this case, the wide-angle camera placed at the tip of the nosecaptures an image corresponding to a front field of view (that is, thedog's field of view) of the autonomous moving body, and the wide-anglecamera at the haunch captures an image of a surrounding region centeredon an upper side. For example, on the basis of the image captured by thewide-angle camera placed at the haunch, the autonomous moving body 10extracts feature points on a ceiling, and the like, and can achieveSimultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM).

(ToF Sensor 525)

The ToF sensor 525 has a function to detect a distance to an objectpresent in front of the head. The ToF sensor 525 is provided at the tipof the nose of the head. According to the ToF sensor 525, distances to avariety of objects can be detected with high accuracy, and it is madepossible to achieve motions corresponding to relative positions withobjects including the user, obstacles, and the like.

(Human Sensor 530)

The human sensor 530 has a function to sense the location of the user orof a pet kept by the user, for example. The human sensor 530 is placed,for example, on the chest. According to the human sensor 530, a movingobject present in front is sensed, thus making it possible to achieve avariety of motions on the moving object, for example, motionscorresponding to emotions such as interest, fear, and surprise.

(Distance Measuring Sensors 535)

The distance measuring sensors 535 have a function to acquire asituation of a front floor surface of the autonomous moving body 10. Thedistance measuring sensors 535 are placed, for example, on the chest.According to the distance measuring sensors 535, a distance to an objectpresent on the front floor surface of the autonomous moving body 10 canbe detected with high accuracy, and a motion corresponding to a relativeposition with the object can be achieved.

(Touch Sensors 540)

The touch sensors 540 have a function to sense a contact by the user.The touch sensors 540 are placed, for example, at regions where the useris likely to touch the autonomous moving body 10, such as the top of thehead, under the chin, and the back. The touch sensors 540 may be, forexample, touch sensors of an electrostatic capacitance type or pressuresensitive type. According to the touch sensors 540, a contact actionsuch as touching, stroking, hitting and pushing by the user can besensed, and it is made possible to perform a motion corresponding to thecontact action.

(Illuminance Sensor 545)

The illuminance sensor 545 detects illuminance in a space where theautonomous moving body 10 is located. The illuminance sensor 545 may beplaced, for example, at the base of the tail on the back surface of thehead. According to the illuminance sensor 545, it is made possible todetect brightness of the surroundings and to execute a motioncorresponding to the brightness.

(Sole Buttons 550)

The sole buttons 550 have a function to detect whether or not the bottomsurfaces of the legs of the autonomous moving body 10 are in contactwith the floor. For this purpose, the sole buttons 550 are individuallyplaced at regions corresponding to the paw pads of four legs. Accordingto the sole buttons 550, contact or non-contact between the autonomousmoving body 10 and the floor surface can be detected, and it is madepossible to grasp, for example, that the autonomous moving body 10 hasbeen held up by the user.

(Inertial Sensors 555)

The inertial sensors 555 are 6-axis sensors each of which detects aphysical quantity such as speed, acceleration, and rotation of the heador the body. That is, the inertial sensors 555 detect accelerations andangular velocities on the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis. Theinertial sensors 555 are individually placed on the head and the body.According to the inertial sensors 555, it is made possible to detect themovements of the head and body of the autonomous moving body 10 withhigh accuracy, and to achieve motion control corresponding to thesituation.

The example of the sensors which the autonomous moving body 10 accordingto the embodiment of the present disclosure includes has been describedabove. Note that the above-described configurations described withreference to FIG. 1 are merely an example, and the configurations of thesensors which the autonomous moving body 10 can include are not limitedto such an example. In addition to the above-described configurations,the autonomous moving body 10 may further include, for example, atemperature sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, an infrared sensor, and avariety of communication devices including a global navigation satellitesystem (GNSS) signal receiver. The configurations of the sensors whichthe autonomous moving body 10 includes can be flexibly modifiedaccording to specifications and operations.

Subsequently, a configuration example of the joint portion of theautonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described. FIG. 2 is a configuration example ofactuators 570 which the autonomous moving body 10 according to theembodiment of the present disclosure includes. The autonomous movingbody 10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has atotal of 22 degrees of freedom of rotation, two at the ears and two atthe tail and one at the mouth, in addition to rotation spots shown inFIG. 2.

For example, the autonomous moving body 10 has three degrees of freedomin the head, and can thereby achieve both of a nodding motion and atilting motion simultaneously. Moreover, the autonomous moving body 10reproduces a swing motion of the haunch by the actuators 570 provided inthe haunch, and is thereby able to achieve a natural and flexible motioncloser to that of a real dog.

Note that the autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure may achieve the above-described 22 degrees offreedom of rotation by, for example, combining 1-axis actuators and2-axis actuators with each other. For example, the 1-axis actuators maybe adopted for the elbows and knees in the legs, and the 2-axisactuators may be adopted for the shoulders and the bases of the thighs.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining a motion of each of theactuators 570 which the autonomous moving body 10 according to theembodiment of the present disclosure includes. Referring to FIG. 3, theactuator 570 rotates an output gear by a motor 575, and can therebydrive a movable arm 590 at arbitrary rotation position and rotationspeed.

Referring to FIG. 4, the actuator 570 according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure includes a rear cover 571, a gear box cover 572, acontrol board 573, a gear box base 574, a motor 575, a first gear 576, asecond gear 577, an output gear 578, a detection magnet 579, and twobearings 580.

The actuator 570 according to the embodiment of the present disclosuremay be, for example, a magnetic spin-valve giant magnetoresistive(svGMR). The control board 573 rotates the motor 575 on the basis ofcontrol of a main processor, whereby power is transmitted to the outputgear 578 via the first gear 576 and the second gear 577, thus making itpossible to drive the movable arm 590.

Moreover, a position sensor provided on the control board 573 detects arotation angle of the detection magnet 579 that rotates insynchronization with the output gear 578, thus making it possible todetect a rotation angle of the movable arm 590, that is, a rotationposition thereof with high accuracy.

Note that, since the magnetic svGMR is of a non-contact type, themagnetic svGMR has excellent durability, and use thereof in a GMRsaturation region leads to an advantage that an influence of signalfluctuations due to distance fluctuations of the detection magnet 579and the position sensor is small.

The configuration example of the actuators 570 which the autonomousmoving body 10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosureincludes has been described above. According to the above-describedconfiguration, it is made possible to accurately control bending andstretching motions of the joint portions which the autonomous movingbody 10 includes, and to accurately detect the rotation positions of thejoint portions.

Subsequently, referring to FIG. 5, functions of the displays 510 whichthe autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure includes will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram forexplaining the function of the displays 510 which the autonomous movingbody 10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes.

(Displays 510)

The displays 510 have a function to visually express eye movements andemotions of the autonomous moving body 10. As shown in FIG. 5, thedisplays 510 can express motions of the eyeballs, the pupils, and theeyelids, which correspond to the emotions and the motions. The displays510 intentionally do not display characters, symbols, or images whichare not related to the eye movements, thereby producing natural motionsclose to those of real animals such as dogs.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 5, the autonomous moving body 10 includes twodisplays 510 r and 510 l, which correspond to the right eye and the lefteye, respectively. The displays 510 r and 510 l are achieved by, forexample, two independent organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).According to the OLEDs, it is made possible to reproduce the curvedsurfaces of the eyeballs, and a more natural exterior can be achieved ascompared to a case where a pair of eyeballs is expressed by one flatdisplay, or a case where two eyeballs are individually expressed by twoindependent flat displays.

As described above, according to the displays 510 r and 510 l, it ismade possible to express a line of sight of the autonomous moving body10 and the emotions thereof, which are as shown in FIG. 5, with highaccuracy and flexibility. Moreover, the user is enabled to intuitivelygrasp a state of the autonomous moving body 10 from the movements of theeyeballs displayed on the displays 510.

The hardware configuration example of the autonomous moving body 10according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has been describedabove. According to the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG.6, the motions of the joint portions and eyeballs of the autonomousmoving body 10 are controlled with high accuracy and flexibility,whereby it is made possible to achieve motions and emotionalexpressions, which are closer to those of real creatures. Note that FIG.6 is a diagram showing motion examples of the autonomous moving body 10according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; however, in FIG.6, an external structure of the autonomous moving body 10 is shown in asimplified manner in order to make the description while payingattention to the motions of the joint portions and eyeballs of theautonomous moving body 10. Likewise, in the following description, theexternal structure of the autonomous moving body 10 may sometimes beshown in a simplified manner; however, the hardware configuration andexterior of the autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure are not limited to the example shown by thedrawings, and can be designed as appropriate.

<<1.3. Functional Configuration Example of Autonomous Moving Body 10>>

Next, a functional configuration example of the autonomous moving body10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will bedescribed. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the functional configurationexample of the autonomous moving body 10 according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 7, the autonomous moving body10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes aninput unit 101, a recognition unit 102, a learning unit 103, a storageunit 104, a data transmission/reception unit 105, a data mutation unit106, a motion control unit 107, a communication unit 108, a drive unit109, and an output unit 110.

(Input Unit 101)

The input unit 101 has a function to collect various information relatedto another autonomous moving body 10, the user, and the ambientenvironment. The input unit 101 collects, for example, utterances of theother autonomous moving body 10 and the user, environmental soundsgenerated in the surroundings, image information related to the otherautonomous moving body 10, the user, and the ambient environment, andvarious sensor information. For this purpose, the input unit 101includes the variety of sensors shown in FIG. 1.

(Recognition Unit 102)

The recognition unit 102 has a function to perform a variety ofrecognitions related to the user, the ambient environment, and the stateof the autonomous moving body 10 on the basis of various informationcollected by the input unit 101. As an example, the recognition unit 102may perform person identification, facial expression and line-of-sightrecognition, object recognition, motion recognition, spatial arearecognition, color recognition, shape recognition, marker recognition,obstacle recognition, step recognition, brightness recognition, and thelike.

Note that the recognition unit 102 can recognize another autonomousmoving body 10. The recognition unit 102 may recognize the otherautonomous moving body 10 on the basis of identification information ofthe other autonomous moving body 10, which is received by thecommunication unit 108 to be described later. Here, the identificationinformation of the autonomous moving body 10 refers to informationunique to each autonomous moving body 10, which is for use inidentifying the autonomous moving body 10. Moreover, the autonomousmoving body 10 may recognize the other autonomous moving body 10 by theobject recognition.

(Learning Unit 103)

The learning unit 103 has a function to learn an environment (situation)and an action, and an influence of the action on the environment. Thelearning unit 103 achieves the above-described learning, for example,using a machine learning algorithm such as deep learning. Note that thelearning algorithm adopted by the learning unit 103 is not limited tothe above-described example, and can be appropriately designed.

(Storage Unit 104)

The storage unit 104 has a function to store various internal datarelated to the autonomous moving body 10. The storage unit 104 may storeinformation related to the recognition of the recognition target andinformation for executing an action corresponding to the informationrelated to the recognition of the recognition target so that both piecesof the information correspond to each other.

Here, the information related to the recognition processing refers to,for example, a class for use in the recognition processing. Moreover,the storage unit 104 includes the identification information of theautonomous moving body 10. The identification information is used by therecognition unit 102, the data transmission/reception unit 105 to bedescribed later, and the data mutation unit 106 to be described later.

(Data Transmission/Reception Unit 105)

The data transmission/reception unit 105 has a function to determinewhether or not to execute transmission/reception of the internal data.Moreover, the data transmission/reception unit 105 has a function todetermine which internal data is to be transmitted/received of withreference to the storage unit 104.

The data transmission/reception unit 105 may independently determinewhether or not to transmit the internal data and whether or not toreceive the internal data. Moreover, the data transmission/receptionunit 105 may independently determine which internal data is to betransmitted and which internal data is to be received.

Further, the data transmission/reception unit 105 may determine whetheror not to execute the transmission/reception of the internal data on thebasis of a magnitude relationship between a transmission/receptionprobability value and a predetermined threshold value. Here, thetransmission/reception probability value is a value for use indetermining the transmission/reception of the internal data. Moreover,the transmission/reception probability value is calculated on the basisof, for example, parameters related to the autonomous moving body 10 andidentification information received from the other autonomous movingbody 10. Note that the data transmission/reception unit 105 maydetermine which internal data is to be transmitted/received on the basisof the transmission/reception probability value.

Here, the parameters related to the autonomous moving body 10 refer to,for example, the character and age of the autonomous moving body 10, asoftware version, a remaining battery level, and the like. For example,the character of the autonomous moving body 10 may influence activenessof the action of the autonomous moving body 10. Note that the parametersrelated to the autonomous moving body 10 may also include informationindicating a relationship with the user and the other autonomous movingbody 10. For example, the number of encounters, and the like arementioned as the information indicating the relationship with the userand the other autonomous moving body 10.

Further, a partner to which the data transmission/reception unit 105transmits/receives the internal data may be, for example, the otherautonomous moving body 10. A data transmission/reception unit 105 whichthe other autonomous moving body 10 has may also determine whether ornot to execute the transmission/reception of the internal data. The datatransmission/reception unit 105 may determine to execute thetransmission/reception of the internal data according to whether or notthe data transmission/reception unit 105 of the other autonomous movingbody 10 has determined whether or not to execute thetransmission/reception of the internal data.

(Data Mutation Unit 106)

The data mutation unit 106 has a function to mutate the internal datawhen transmitting/receiving the internal data determined by the datatransmission/reception unit 105. Here, the mutation means changing apart of the internal data. Specifically, the mutation means changing theinternal data to other variations.

Note that the data mutation unit 106 may mutate both internal data to betransmitted and received internal data, or may mutate either thereof.

Moreover, the data mutation unit 106 may calculate a mutationprobability value and determine whether or not to mutate the internaldata. Here, the transmission/reception probability value is a value foruse in the mutation of internal data. Here, the mutation probabilityvalue may be calculated on the basis of the parameters related to theautonomous moving body 10 and the identification information of theother autonomous moving body 10.

The data mutation unit 106 may determine whether or not to mutate theinternal data on the basis of a magnitude relationship between themutation probability value and a predetermined threshold value. The datamutation unit 106 may calculate the mutation probability value only in acase where the data transmission/reception unit 105 determines totransmit the internal data. On the other hand, the data mutation unit106 may calculate the mutation probability value only in a case wherethe data transmission/reception unit 105 determines to receive theinternal data. The data mutation unit 106 may determine whether or notto execute the calculation of the mutation probability value accordingto the type of the internal data to be transmitted/received.

Note that the data mutation unit 106 may calculate the mutationprobability value using one or more parameters related to the autonomousmoving body 10. For example, Equation (1) shows a result of addingfunctions, which are output and weighted by the respective parameters,to one another.

[Equation 1]

f′(x)=w ₁ f ₁(x ₁)+w ₂ f ₂(x ₂)+ . . . +w _(n) f _(n)(x _(n))  (1)

Next, the result calculated by Equation (1) is substituted into aprobabilistic function, for example, a sigmoid function such as Equation(2).

$\begin{matrix}\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \rbrack & \; \\{m_{k} = \frac{1}{1 + e^{- {{af}^{\prime}{(x)}}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

The data mutation unit 106 may determine whether or not to mutate theinternal data, for example, on the basis of a magnitude relationshipbetween such an output result of the probabilistic function as Equation(2) and a predetermined threshold value.

(Motion Control Unit 107)

The motion control unit 107 has a function to plan the action to beperformed by the autonomous moving body 10 on the basis of the situationestimated by the recognition unit 102 and knowledge learned by thelearning unit 103. Moreover, the motion control unit 107 has a functionto control operations of the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 onthe basis of the planned action plan. The motion control unit 107performs rotation control of the actuators 570, display control of thedisplays 510, voice output control by a speaker, and the like, forexample, on the basis of the above-described action plan.

Moreover, the motion control unit 107 has a function to cause the driveunit 109 and the output unit 110 to express the execution of thetransmission/reception of the internal data by actions whentransmitting/receiving the internal data. Specifically, the motioncontrol unit 107 controls the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 toexpress a content of the internal data, which is determined by the datatransmission/reception unit 105, by the action of the autonomous movingbody 10 so that the user can grasp the content.

Note that the action that expresses the execution of thetransmission/reception of the internal data may be one by which the usercan directly understand the content of the internal data, or may be oneby which the user can indirectly understand the content of the internaldata. A specific example of the expression by the action of theautonomous moving body 10 will be described later.

(Communication Unit 108)

The communication unit 108 has a function to perform informationcommunication with the other autonomous moving body 10. For example, thecommunication unit 108 transmits the internal data and the like to theother autonomous moving body 10. Moreover, for example, thecommunication unit 108 receives the internal data from the otherautonomous moving body 10.

Moreover, in a case where the recognition unit 102 recognizes the otherautonomous moving body 10, the communication unit 108 maytransmit/receive identification information to/from the other autonomousmoving body 10.

(Drive Unit 109)

The drive unit 109 has a function to bend and stretch a plurality ofjoint portions the autonomous moving body 10 has, on the basis of thecontrol by the motion control unit 107. More specifically, the driveunit 109 drives the actuators 570 which the respective joint portionsinclude, on the basis of the control by the motion control unit 107.

(Output Unit 110)

The output unit 110 has a function to output visual information andsound information on the basis of the control by the motion control unit107. For this purpose, the output unit 110 includes the displays 510 andthe speaker.

The functional configuration example of the autonomous moving body 10according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has been describedabove. Note that the above-described configurations described withreference to FIG. 7 are merely an example, and the functionalconfiguration of the autonomous moving body 10 according to theembodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to such an example.The functional configuration of the autonomous moving body 10 accordingto the embodiment of the present disclosure can be flexibly modifiedaccording to the specifications and the operations.

Moreover, the autonomous moving body 10 is able to communicate with theother autonomous moving body 10 using the communication unit 108. Notethat the autonomous moving body 10 may communicate directly with theother autonomous moving body 10, or may communicate therewith via anetwork 20 shown in FIG. 7.

Moreover, although not shown in FIG. 7, a part of the storage unit 104may be provided on an information processing server connected to theautonomous moving body 10 via the network 20. For example, theinformation processing server may transmit/receive the internal datato/from the autonomous moving body 10 as appropriate.

<<1.4. Specific Example>>

A specific example of the control by the motion control unit 107according to the present embodiment will be described below. First, anoverall flow in the transmission/reception of the internal data by theautonomous moving body 10 will be described. FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagramsfor explaining an example of the overall flow in thetransmission/reception of the internal data by the autonomous movingbody 10 according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, first, in a case where the recognition unit 102recognizes another autonomous moving body 10 (S1101: YES), thecommunication unit 108 starts communication with the other autonomousmoving body 10 (S1002). On the other hand, in a case where therecognition unit 102 does not recognize the other autonomous moving body10 (S1101: NO), the process returns to step S1101. After executing stepS1102, the communication unit 108 exchanges identification informationwith the other autonomous moving body 10 (S1103). Next, the datatransmission/reception unit 105 calculates the transmission/receptionprobability value on the basis of the parameters related to theautonomous moving body 10 and the identification information of theother autonomous moving body 10 (S1104).

Next, in a case where the transmission/reception probability value isnot larger than a first threshold value (S1105: NO), the process returnsto step S1101. On the other hand, in a case where thetransmission/reception probability value is larger than the firstthreshold value (S1105: YES), the data mutation unit 106 calculates themutation probability value on the basis of the parameters related to theautonomous moving body 10 and the identification information of theother autonomous moving body 10 (S1106).

Next, in a case where the mutation probability value is not larger thana second threshold value (S1107: NO), the process proceeds to stepS1109. On the other hand, in a case where the mutation probability valueis larger than the second threshold value (S1107: YES), the datamutation unit 106 determines the internal data to be mutated at the timeof transmission/reception thereof (S1108).

Subsequently, referring to FIG. 9, first, in a case where the datatransmission/reception unit 105 has not determined to transmit theinternal data (S1109: NO), the process proceeds to step S1114. On theother hand, in a case where the data transmission/reception unit 105 hasdetermined to transmit the internal data (S1109: YES), the datatransmission/reception unit 105 extracts, from the storage unit 104, theinternal data to be transmitted (S1110).

Next, in a case where the data mutation unit 106 has not determined tomutate the internal data (S1111: NO), the process proceeds to stepS1113. On the other hand, in a case where the data mutation unit 106 hasdetermined to mutate the internal data (S1111: YES), the data mutationunit 106 mutates the internal data extracted in step S1110 (S1112).Next, the communication unit 108 transmits the internal data, which isextracted in step S1110, to the other autonomous moving body 10 (S1113).

Next, in a case where the data transmission/reception unit 105 has notdetermined to receive the internal data (S11114: NO), the autonomousmoving body 10 ends the process. On the other hand, in a case where thedata transmission/reception unit 105 has determined to receive theinternal data (31114: YES), the communication unit 108 receives theinternal data from the other autonomous moving body 10 (S1115).

Next, in a case where the data mutation unit 106 has not determined tomutate the received internal data (S1116: NO), the process proceeds tostep S1118. On the other hand, in a case where the data mutation unit106 has determined to mutate the received internal data (S1116: YES),the data mutation unit 106 mutates the internal data received in stepS1115 (S1117). Next, the data transmission/reception unit 105 updatesthe internal data, which is received in step S1115, by causing thestorage unit 104 to additionally change the same (S1118), and theautonomous moving body 10 ends the process.

As described above, the autonomous moving body 10 can execute thetransmission/reception of the internal data and the mutation of theinternal data. Note that the flow of the operations, which is describedabove, is merely an example, and the transmission/reception of theinternal data and the mutation of the internal data are not limited tosuch an example.

Details of the control by the motion control unit 107 of the autonomousmoving body 10 will be described below while mentioning specificexamples. First, a case where the internal data transmitted/received isinformation for use in identification processing by the autonomousmoving body 10 will be described.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining an example of expressing,by actions, the execution of the transmission/reception of informationrelated to the recognition processing by the motion control unit 107according to the present embodiment. FIG. 10 shows an autonomous movingbody 10A, an autonomous moving body 10B, and a recognition target C1.

Note that, as a premise, since the autonomous moving body 10A does nothave information for use in identification processing corresponding tothe recognition target C1, the autonomous moving body 10A is in a stateof being incapable of recognizing what the recognition target C1 is. Onthe other hand, since the autonomous moving body 10B has the informationfor use in the identification processing corresponding to therecognition target C1, the autonomous moving body 10B is in a state ofbeing capable of recognizing that the recognition target C1 is a “cat”.

On an upper side of FIG. 10A, the autonomous moving body 10B interactswith the recognition target C1. Here, the autonomous moving body 10Brecognizes that the recognition target C1 is a “cat”.

Next, on a lower side of FIG. 10A, the autonomous moving body 10A isapproaching the autonomous moving body 10B and the recognition targetC1. Here, the autonomous moving body 10A receives information related torecognition processing of the recognition target C1 from the autonomousmoving body 10B. Here, the information related to the recognitionprocessing is an example of the internal data. Moreover, at the sametime, the autonomous moving body 10A receives, from the autonomousmoving body 10B, information for executing motions corresponding to therecognition target C1.

On an upper side of FIG. 10B, the autonomous moving body 10A hascompleted the reception of the information, which is related to therecognition of the recognition target C1, from the autonomous movingbody 10B. Thus, the autonomous moving body 10A and the autonomous movingbody 10B express the transmission/reception of the information, which isrelated to the information related to the recognition of the recognitiontarget C1, by a “motion of wiping the face” on the basis of theinformation for executing the motion corresponding to the recognitiontarget C1. Here, the “motion of wiping the face” is a gesture executedby a cat (gesture that is reminiscent of a cat).

Here, the information for executing the motion corresponding to therecognition target may be a motion for executing such a motion that theuser can associate what the recognition target is. Note that, inaddition to the motion, for example, voice may be used to determine whatthe recognition target is.

Next, on a lower side of FIG. 10B, the autonomous moving body 10A ismade capable of recognizing a recognition target C2, which is another“cat”, on the basis of the information related to the recognitionprocessing of the “cat”, the information having been received from theautonomous moving body 10B.

As described above, the information related to the recognitionprocessing of the recognition target and the information for executingthe motion corresponding to the recognition target can betransmitted/received. According to such a function, the autonomousmoving body 10 can express, to the user, an increase in the types ofrecognizable objects on the basis of the transmission/reception of theinternal data.

Here, as an example of the information related to the recognitionprocessing, classes related to the recognition processing will beconceptually described. FIG. 11 is a diagram for conceptually explainingthe classes related to the recognition processing. FIG. 11 shows afeature quantity extractor REA and class PA1 of the autonomous movingbody 10A, and a feature quantity extractor REB and class PB1 of theautonomous moving body 10B.

On an upper side of FIG. 11, it is shown that the autonomous moving body10A is able to recognize objects shown in the class PA1. Likewise, it isshown that the autonomous moving body 10B is able to recognize objectsshown in the class PB1.

Here, the autonomous moving body 10A and the autonomous moving body 10Btransmit/receive the class related to the recognition processing, andcan thereby additionally change the recognition target. An example ofFIG. 11 will be described below. It is assumed that the autonomousmoving body 10A is able to recognize a “dog” shown in the class PA1.Likewise, it is assumed that the autonomous moving body 10B is able torecognize “fork” and “sofa” which are shown in the class PB1.

As shown on a lower side of FIG. 11, a “dog” class, a “fork” class, anda “sofa” class are transmitted to another autonomous moving body 10 bythe data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous moving body10A and the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomousmoving body 10B. The transmitted classes are merged. Here, as shown in aclass PA2 of the autonomous moving body 10A, the recognition unit 102 ofthe autonomous moving body 10A is able to recognize the “fork” class andthe “sofa” class. Further, as shown in a class PB2 of the autonomousmoving body 10B, the recognition unit 102 of the autonomous moving body10B is able to recognize the “dog” class.

As described above, the transmission/reception of the class informationis executed, whereby it is made possible to save a trouble of theautonomous moving body 10 learning a new recognition target.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 11, the data transmission/reception unit 105of the autonomous moving body 10 may simultaneously execute deletion ofother classes in addition to the addition of the classes related to therecognition processing. This will be described in an example on thelower side of FIG. 11. When transmitting/receiving and merging theclasses related to the recognition processing, the datatransmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous moving body 10Adeletes a “cup” class and a “chair” class, which have been presented inthe class PA1. Moreover, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of theautonomous moving body 10A deletes a “rabbit” class that has beenpresent in the class PA1.

As described above, not only the addition of the classes but also thedeletion of the classes is executed, thus making it possible to save anamount of data to be stored in the autonomous moving body 10. Forexample, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomousmoving body 10 may preferentially delete a recognition target class thatis less frequently recognized by the recognition unit 102 among theclasses to be stored in the storage unit 104. On the other hand, thedata transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous moving body 10may only add a class without deleting the class.

Incidentally, there may be a plurality of types of the motionscorresponding to the recognition target. Here, an example ofdetermination and mutation of the action, which corresponds to therecognition target, by the data transmission/reception unit 105 and thedata mutation unit 106 will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram forexplaining an example of mutation of the information related to therecognition processing by the data transmission/reception unit 105 andthe data mutation unit 106 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 12shows a graph S1 of a score corresponding to each action of theautonomous moving body 10, which corresponds to a predeterminedrecognition target, and shows a graph S2 of a probability that theautonomous moving body 10 can take each action.

A score of each action shown on a left side of FIG. 12 is calculatedaccording to the recognition target. Here, the score is a value for usewhen the autonomous moving body 10 determines which action is to beexecuted at the time of executing the action corresponding to therecognition target. Moreover, the action here includes an action of“wiping the face”, for example, in a case where the action is an actioncorresponding to recognition processing of a cat. In addition to theaction (gesture) of the autonomous moving body 10, for example, anaction of searching for a cat in a case where the autonomous moving body10 becomes able to recognize the cat, and the like are included.

Note that a score of an action having a high affinity with therecognition target may be set higher than scores of other actions. Here,the data transmission/reception unit 105 converts each score into aprobability P on the basis of, for example, a softmax function shown inEquation (3). Here, C is a number for identifying each action, and Scoreis the score of each action shown on the left side of FIG. 12.

$\begin{matrix}\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 3} \rbrack & \; \\{P_{j} = \frac{e^{{Score}_{c}}}{\sum_{c = 1}^{N}e^{{Score}_{c}}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

A probability shown on a right side of FIG. 12 is a probability for usein selecting an action when expressing the transmission/reception of theinformation related to the recognition processing of the recognitiontarget. The data transmission/reception unit 105 determines an action,which is caused to be executed by the autonomous moving body 10, on thebasis of the probability shown in the probability graph S2.

Here, on the left side of FIG. 12, the data mutation unit 106 may mutatethe score, which corresponds to each action, on the basis of themutation probability value. Specifically, the data mutation unit 106 maychange the score, which corresponds to each action, by using thecalculated mutation probability value. The data mutation unit 106mutates each score, whereby the probability of the action determined bythe data transmission/reception unit 105 changes.

As described above, even in a case where a plurality of the autonomousmoving bodies 10 is present, each autonomous moving body 10 can make anexpression to the same recognition target by a different action.According to such a function, even a user who possesses a plurality ofthe autonomous moving bodies 10 becomes able to enjoy a difference inaction executed by each autonomous moving body 10.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of a probability thateach action expressing the transmission/reception of the informationrelated to the recognition processing according to the presentembodiment is selected. As shown in the example of FIG. 13, by using theprobability, it is made possible to determine the action expressing thetransmission/reception of the information related to the recognitionprocessing.

In the above, the transmission/reception of the class related to therecognition processing has been described as an example. However, forexample, a target recognizable even in transmission/reception ofinformation related to a convolutional neural network can be added. FIG.14 is a diagram for explaining the transmission/reception of theinformation related to the convolutional neural network according to thepresent embodiment. FIG. 14 shows a conceptual diagram CN of theconvolutional neural network.

On a left side of FIG. 14, feature quantity data to be stored as athree-dimensional quantity is shown. On a middle figure of FIG. 14,three-dimensional filters to be applied to the feature quantity data areshown. On a right side of FIG. 14, a result of convolution by thethree-dimensional filters is shown. In an example of FIG. 14, the resultof the convolution may be a two-dimensional heat map.

The data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous moving body10 may determine filter information as the internal data to betransmitted/received. Addition or deletion of the filter information isperformed, whereby the target (class) recognizable by the recognitionunit 102 of the autonomous moving body 10 changes. Here, the filterinformation refers to a size of a kernel related to the filter, and thelike.

Subsequently, a description will be given of an example of a flow ofoperations related to the transmission/reception of the informationrelated to the recognition processing by the autonomous moving bodies 10and related to the expression of the transmission/reception. FIG. 15 isa diagram for explaining the example of the flow of the operationsrelated to the transmission/reception of the information related to therecognition processing by the autonomous moving bodies 10 according tothe present embodiment and related to the expression of thetransmission/reception.

Referring to FIG. 15, first, the recognition unit 102 of the autonomousmoving body 10A recognizes the autonomous moving body 10B (S1201). Next,the recognition unit 102 of the autonomous moving body 10A recognizesthat the autonomous moving body 10B is interacting with the recognitiontarget (S1202). On the other hand, the recognition unit 102 of theautonomous moving body 10B also recognizes the autonomous moving body10A (S1203). Next, the communication unit 108 of the autonomous movingbody 10A transmits the identification information of the autonomousmoving body 10A to the autonomous moving body 10B (51204). On the otherhand, the communication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10B alsotransmits the identification information of the autonomous moving body10B to the autonomous moving body 10A (S1205).

Next, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous movingbody 10A calculates the transmission/reception probability value on thebasis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10A and theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10B (S1206).The data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous moving body10B also calculates the transmission/reception probability value on thebasis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10B and theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10A (51207).Next, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10Acauses the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 to execute a motionindicating, to the autonomous moving body 10B, the start of reception ofthe class related to the recognition processing of the recognitiontarget (S1208).

Next, the communication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10Btransmits information indicating a permission to receive the recognitiontarget class to the autonomous moving body 10A (S1209). Next, the motioncontrol unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10A controls the driveunit 109 to execute a motion of approaching the recognition target(S1210). Next, the data mutation unit 106 of the autonomous moving body10B calculates the mutation probability value (S1211). Next, the datamutation unit 106 of the autonomous moving body 10B mutates the classand the motion corresponding to the class on the basis of the mutationprobability value calculated in step 31211 (S1212).

Next, the communication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10Btransmits the recognition target class and the information for executingthe motion corresponding to the class to the autonomous moving body 10A(S1213). Next, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body10B causes the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 to execute themotion corresponding to the information received in step 31213 (S1215).Moreover, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10Aalso causes the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 to execute themotion corresponding to the information transmitted in step S1213(S1215).

Next, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous movingbody 10A causes the storage unit 104 to store the class received in step31213 and the information for executing the motion corresponding to theclass, thereby updating the internal data (S1216). Next, the motioncontrol unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10A causes the drive unit109 to execute an action of searching for the recognition targetcorresponding to the class received in step 31213 (S1217), and theautonomous moving body 10 ends the motion.

The autonomous moving body 10 expresses, by the action, thetransmission/reception of the class corresponding to the recognitiontarget as described above, whereby the user becomes able to understandthat the autonomous moving body 10 has been provided with theinformation related to the recognition target from the other autonomousmoving body 10.

Up to the above, the expression of the transmission/reception of theinformation related to the recognition of the recognition target hasbeen described; however, the information to be transmitted/received maybe an environment map. For example, the autonomous moving body 10receives the environment map from the other autonomous moving body 10,whereby the autonomous moving body 10 becomes able to move in a state ofunderstanding the environment even in a place where the autonomousmoving body 10 has never been.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining an action expressing the executionof the transmission/reception of the environment map by the autonomousmoving body 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 16 shows theautonomous moving body 10A and the autonomous moving body 10B.

The motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10 causes, byan action, the expression of the execution of the transmission/receptionof the environment map, the execution being done by the datatransmission/reception unit 105, when transmitting/receiving theenvironment map.

Specifically, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body10 controls the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 so that the usercan understand that the transmission/reception of the environment map ofa predetermined place is being executed.

In an example of FIG. 16, the autonomous moving body 10B is executing anaction of making a guide of an inside of a room, while the autonomousmoving body 10A is executing an action of following the autonomousmoving body 10B. The autonomous moving body 10A follows the autonomousmoving body 10B as described above, whereby the user becomes able tounderstand that the transmission/reception of the environment map isbeing executed.

Note that, when the autonomous moving body 10 transmits/receives theenvironment map, an attention level map may also be transmitted/receivedas additional information. Here, the attention level map is mapinformation indicating a place having an additional meaning to apredetermined environment map. Specifically, the attention level maprefers to map information for showing a place having a special meaningto the user, for example, a place where the user is likely to bepresent, a place where the user dislikes the autonomous moving body 10to enter, or the like.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining an example of the environment mapsand the attention level map, which are to be transmitted/received by theautonomous moving body 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 17shows an environment map M1, an attention level map M2, and anenvironment map M3 modified by the attention level map M2.

In FIG. 17, the environment map M1 shows a floor plan of a room and aninstallation status of furniture. The attention level map M2 is a mapcorresponding to the environment map M1.

A description will be given below in an example of FIG. 17. For example,a place of interest A1 is a place where the user praises the autonomousmoving body 10 when the autonomous moving body 10 enters the place.

Moreover, for example, a place of interest A2 is a place that has aspecial meaning to the user. Furthermore, a place of interest A3 is aplace where the user gets angry when the autonomous moving body 10enters the place. In the environment map M3 modified by the attentionlevel map M2, modified places P1 to P3 are indicated as restricted areasfor the autonomous moving body 10.

By receiving the environment map and the attention level map asdescribed above, the autonomous moving body 10 becomes able to move moresafely even at a place where the autonomous moving body 10 comes for thefirst time, and moreover, the autonomous moving body 10 becomes able tomove according to circumstances of each user.

Subsequently, a description will be given of an example of a flow ofoperations related to the transmission/reception of the environment mapand the attention level map by the autonomous moving bodies 10 andrelated to the expression of the execution of thetransmission/reception. FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining the exampleof the flow of the operations related to the transmission/reception ofthe environment map and the attention level map by the autonomous movingbodies 10 according to the present embodiment and the expression of theexecution of the transmission/reception.

Referring to FIG. 18, first, the recognition unit 102 of the autonomousmoving body 10A recognizes the autonomous moving body 10B (S1301).Moreover, the recognition unit 102 of the autonomous moving body 10Balso recognizes the autonomous moving body 10A (S1302). Next, thecommunication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10A transmits theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10A to theautonomous moving body 10B (S1303). On the other hand, the communicationunit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10B also transmits theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10B to theautonomous moving body 10A (S1304).

Next, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous movingbody 10A calculates the transmission/reception probability value on thebasis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10A and theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10B (S1305).The data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous moving body10B also calculates the transmission/reception probability value on thebasis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10B and theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10A (S1306).Next, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10Acauses the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 to execute a motionindicating the start of reception of the environment map to theautonomous moving body 10B (S1307).

Next, the communication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10Btransmits information indicating a permission to receive the environmentmap to the autonomous moving body 10A (S1308). Next, the data mutationunit 106 of the autonomous moving body 10B calculates a mutationprobability value (S1309). Next, the data mutation unit 106 of theautonomous moving body 10B mutates the environment map or the attentionlevel map on the basis of the mutation probability value calculated instep S1309 (S1310).

Next, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10Bcauses the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 to execute anoperation of making a guide of a place shown in the environment map(S1311). Moreover, the autonomous moving body 10A causes the drive unit109 to start a motion of following the autonomous moving body 10B(S1312). Next, the communication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body10B transmits the environment map and an attention level mapcorresponding to the environment map to the autonomous moving body 10A(S1313). Next, the data mutation unit 106 of the autonomous moving body10A calculates a mutation probability value on the basis of theparameters of the autonomous moving body 10A and the identificationinformation of the autonomous moving body 10B (S1314). Here, theautonomous moving body 10A may mutate the environment map and theattention level map on the basis of the mutation probability valuecalculated in step S1314.

Next, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous movingbody 10A causes the storage unit 104 to store the class received in stepS1213 and the information for executing the motion corresponding to theclass, thereby updating the internal data (S1315). Then, the autonomousmoving body 10A and the autonomous moving body 10B end the motions.

The transmission/reception of the environment map and the attentionlevel map by the autonomous moving body 10 is expressed by the action asdescribed above, whereby the user becomes able to understand that theautonomous moving body 10 has been provided with the information relatedto a new place from the other autonomous moving body 10.

Incidentally, as an example of the internal data, a feature quantity foruser recognition is also mentioned. FIG. 19 is a diagram for explainingan example of expressing, by an action, transmission/reception of thefeature quantity for use in the user recognition by the autonomousmoving body 10. FIG. 19 shows the autonomous moving body 10A, theautonomous moving body 10B, and a user UA.

The motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10 causes, byan action, the expression of the execution of the transmission/receptionof the feature quantity, the execution being done by the datatransmission/reception unit 105 for the user recognition, whentransmitting/receiving the feature quantity. Specifically, the motioncontrol unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10 controls the driveunit 109 and the output unit 110 so that the execution oftransmission/reception of information related to the identification of apredetermined user can be understood.

Note that the data mutation unit 106 of the autonomous moving body 10may mutate the feature quantity of the user. In an example of FIG. 19,the communication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10B transmitsthe feature quantity of the user UA, which is mutated by the datamutation unit 106 of the autonomous moving body 10B, to the autonomousmoving body 10A.

In an example on an upper side of FIG. 19, the autonomous moving body10A is in a state of being incapable of recognizing the user UA, and theautonomous moving body 10B is in a situation of recognizing theautonomous moving body 10A. In an example of a lower side of FIG. 19,the autonomous moving body 10B transmits the feature quantity of theuser UA to the autonomous moving body 10A, and the autonomous movingbody 10A starts a search for the user UA and discovers the user UA.However, the autonomous moving body 10A searches for the user UA who is“wearing glasses” and does not completely recognize the user UA.

The autonomous moving body 10 receives the feature quantity for use inthe user recognition from the other autonomous moving body 10 asdescribed above, and can thereby shorten a learning time required forthe user recognition. Moreover, the feature quantity for use in the userrecognition is mutated, thus making it possible to achieve an action ofgradually memorizing an appearance of the user.

Subsequently, such feature quantities to be transmitted/received by theautonomous moving bodies 10 will be described. FIG. 20 is a diagram forexplaining feature quantities transmitted and received by the autonomousmoving bodies 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 20 showsfeature quantities FA to FD corresponding to the respective users A toD.

Note that each of the autonomous moving bodies 10 receives the featurequantity of the user from the other autonomous moving body 10 having thesame feature quantity calculation procedure, and additionally updatescorresponding feature quantity data of the user, and thereby becomesable to recognize the user. In an example on an upper side of FIG. 20,the autonomous moving body 10A has the feature quantity FA of the user Aand the feature quantity FB of the user B. On the other hand, theautonomous moving body 10B has the feature quantity FC of the user C andthe feature quantity FD of the user D.

Here, as shown in an example of a lower side of FIG. 20, when theautonomous moving body 10B transmits the feature quantity FC of the userC to the autonomous moving body 10A, the autonomous moving body 10Abecomes able to recognize the user C on the basis of the featurequantity FC of the user C.

Usually, the learning of the user, which uses the feature quantity,needs to use images in which the user is photographed in a variety ofsituation. However, the feature quantity itself is transmitted/receivedas described above, thus making it possible to save the trouble oflearning the feature of the user one more time.

Incidentally, in the user recognition, even if the user is the same, anappearance thereof may change due to an environment such as illuminanceand an orientation of a camera, a situation of the user, in which theuser wears makeup or wears glasses, and the like. Hence, clustering ofsuch feature quantities may be performed in order to more accuratelyrecognize the same user in a variety of situations. Note that the datamutation unit 106 may mutate a feature quantity to be mutated in theclustered feature quantities. FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining theclustering of the feature quantities in the user recognition accordingto the present embodiment and the mutation of the feature quantities bythe data mutation unit 106.

FIG. 21 shows a feature quantity map FM. The feature quantity map FMshows a cluster FAG of the clustered feature quantities of the user A, acluster FBG of the feature quantities of the user B, and a cluster FCGof the feature quantities of the user C.

Here, the recognition unit 102 may recognize the user depending on whichcluster the acquired feature quantity belongs to. In an example on aleft side of FIG. 21, the recognition unit 102 may recognize therecognized user as the user A on the basis of the fact that such anacquired feature quantity FA1 belongs to the cluster FAG of the user A.

Note that, on the basis of the feature quantity map FM, the datamutation unit 106 may mutate the feature quantity whentransmitting/receiving the feature quantity. An example on a right sideof FIG. 21 will be described. In a case where the feature quantityacquired by the recognition unit 102 belongs to the cluster FAG of thefeature quantities of the user A, for example, considered is a straightline that connects a center FAO of the cluster FAG of the featurequantity of the user A and a center FBO of the cluster FBG of thefeature quantities of the user B to each other. Next, the data mutationunit 106 selects any one point on the straight line, defines a featurequantity FB2, which is closest to the selected point FP, as therecognized feature quantity, and may thereby perform the mutation.

Subsequently, a description will be given of an example of a flow ofoperations related to the transmission/reception of the feature quantityof the user by the autonomous moving bodies 10 and related to theexpression of the execution of the transmission/reception. FIG. 22 is adiagram for explaining the example of the flow of the operations relatedto the transmission/reception of the feature quantity of the user by theautonomous moving bodies 10 according to the present embodiment andrelated to the expression of the execution of thetransmission/reception.

Referring to FIG. 22, first, the recognition unit 102 of the autonomousmoving body 10B recognizes the autonomous moving body 10A (S1401).Moreover, the recognition unit 102 of the autonomous moving body 10Aalso recognizes the autonomous moving body 10B (S1402). Next, thecommunication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10A transmits theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10A to theautonomous moving body 10B (31403). On the other hand, the communicationunit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10B also transmits theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10B to theautonomous moving body 10A (S1404).

Next, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous movingbody 10A calculates a transmission/reception probability value on thebasis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10A and theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10B (S1405).The data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous moving body10B also calculates a transmission/reception probability value on thebasis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10B and theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10A (S1406).Next, the autonomous moving body 10A calculates the mutation probabilityvalue on the basis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10Aand the identification information of the autonomous moving body 10B(S1407). Next, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body10B causes the drive unit 109 and the output unit 110 to execute amotion indicating the transmission of the feature quantity of the user Ato the autonomous moving body 10A (S1408).

Next, the data mutation unit 106 of the autonomous moving body 10Bmutates the feature quantity of the user A on the basis of the mutationprobability value (S1409). Next, the communication unit 108 of theautonomous moving body 10A transmits, to the autonomous moving body 10B,information indicating a permission to transmit the feature quantity ofthe user A (S1410). Next, the communication unit 108 of the autonomousmoving body 10B transmits the feature quantity of the user A to theautonomous moving body 10A (S1411).

Next, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10Aexecutes the search for the user A corresponding to the feature quantityof the user A, which is received in step S1411 (S1412), and theautonomous moving body 10A and the autonomous moving body 10B end themotions.

The transmission/reception of the feature quantity of the user by theautonomous moving body 10 is expressed by the action as described above,whereby the user becomes able to understand that the autonomous movingbody 10 has been provided with the information related to a new userfrom the other autonomous moving body 10.

In the above, the example in a case where the internal data is theinformation related to the recognition processing has been described.However, the internal data may be information for executing the motionsof the autonomous moving body 10. FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining anexample of transmission/reception of information for executing motionsof the autonomous moving bodies 10 according to the present embodimentand expression of the transmission/reception by the autonomous movingbodies 10.

FIG. 23 shows autonomous moving bodies 10A to 10C. Here, each autonomousmoving body 10 can transmit/receive the information for executing themotion to/from the other autonomous moving body 10. Here, theinformation for executing the motion means, for example, informationnecessary for the autonomous moving body 10 to execute a variety ofmotions.

In an example on an upper figure of FIG. 23, the autonomous moving body10C is executing a predetermined motion. At this time, the autonomousmoving bodies 10A and 10B recognize the autonomous moving body 10C thatperforms the predetermined motion. Here, the autonomous moving body 10Ctransmits information necessary to execute the predetermined motion tothe autonomous moving bodies 10A and 10B.

In an example of a lower figure of FIG. 23, on the basis of theinformation received from the autonomous moving body 10C, the autonomousmoving bodies 10A and 10B execute a motion corresponding thereto,thereby express a content of the motion corresponding to the receivedinformation.

Note that, when transmitting/receiving the internal data, the datatransmission/reception unit 105 calculates the transmission/receptionprobability value, and the data mutation unit 106 calculates themutation probability value. The parameters of the autonomous moving body10 for use at that time may include the character and influence value ofthe autonomous moving body 10. For example, the mutation probabilityvalue may be calculated on the basis of the character of the autonomousmoving body 10, and the transmission/reception probability value may becalculated on the basis of the influence value of the autonomous movingbody 10.

For example, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomousmoving body 10 may compare the influence value of the autonomous movingbody 10 itself with the influence value of the other autonomous movingbody 10, and may determine whether or not to transmit/receive theinternal data. Moreover, for example, the data mutation unit 106 of theautonomous moving body 10 may mutate the internal data on the basis ofthe character of the autonomous moving body 10 itself.

An example of FIG. 23 will be described. On the basis of the fact thatthe influence value of the autonomous moving body 10C is higher than theinfluence values of the autonomous moving bodies 10A and 10B, the datatransmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous moving body 10Cdetermines to transmit the information for executing the motion.

Moreover, on the basis of the fact that the character of the autonomousmoving body 10B is “impatient”, the data mutation unit 106 of theautonomous moving body 10B may mutate the information for executing theoperation received from the autonomous moving body 10C. In the exampleof the lower figure of FIG. 23, the autonomous moving body 10B isexecuting a motion partially different from the autonomous moving body10C.

As described above, when transmitting/receiving the information forexecuting the motion of the autonomous moving body 10, the character andinfluence value of the autonomous moving body 10 are used, thus makingit possible to more naturally express individuality of each autonomousmoving body 10.

Subsequently, an example of mutation of information for executingindirect control among the motions of the autonomous moving body 10 willbe described. FIGS. 24 to 26 are diagrams for explaining the example ofthe mutation of the information for executing the motion of theautonomous moving body 10 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 24 shows the presence or absence of mutation in a motion at eachjoint of the autonomous moving body 10. As shown in FIG. 24, the datamutation unit 106 may determine whether or not to mutate the motion ateach joint spot.

FIG. 25 shows the presence or absence of mutations in postureinformation J21 to J2N at the respective joint spots of the autonomousmoving body 10 and in time series T1 to TN. The data mutation unit 106may mutate a motion at a specific time. In an example of FIG. 25, thedata mutation unit 106 mutates the posture information J22 and J23 ofthe autonomous moving body 10 at times T2 and T3.

FIG. 26 shows posture information J31 received from the other autonomousmoving body 10 and posture information J32 stored by the autonomousmoving body 10 itself. The data mutation unit 106 may mutate the postureinformation J31 using the posture information J32.

In an example of FIG. 26, the data mutation unit 106 mutates the postureinformation J31 by the posture information J32. In the postureinformation J33 after the mutation, a posture of a predetermined jointspots is based on the posture information J31, and a posture of theother joint spot is based on the posture information J32.

The posture information is mutated as described above, whereby a varietyof motions of the autonomous moving body 10 can be passed to the otherautonomous moving body 10. According to such a function, the userbecomes able to enjoy motions different for each autonomous moving body10.

Subsequently, a description will be given of an example of a flow of thetransmission/reception of the information for executing the motions ofthe autonomous moving bodies 10 by the autonomous moving bodies 10 andof the expression related to the execution of the transmission/receptionby the autonomous moving bodies 10. FIG. 27 is a diagram for explainingthe example of the flow of the transmission/reception of the informationfor executing the motions of the autonomous moving bodies 10 accordingto the present embodiment by the autonomous moving bodies 10 and of theexpressions related to the execution of the transmission/reception bythe autonomous moving bodies 10.

Referring to FIG. 27, first, the recognition unit 102 of the autonomousmoving body 10A recognizes the autonomous moving body 10B (S1501).Moreover, the recognition unit 102 of the autonomous moving body 10Brecognizes the autonomous moving bodies 10A and C (S1502). Furthermore,the recognition unit 102 of the autonomous moving body 10C recognizesthe autonomous moving body 10B (S1503). Next, the communication unit 108of the autonomous moving body 10A transmits the identificationinformation of the autonomous moving body 10A to the autonomous movingbody 10B (S1504). Moreover, the communication unit 108 of the autonomousmoving body 10C also transmits the identification information of theautonomous moving body 10C to the autonomous moving body 10B (S1505).Moreover, the communication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10Btransmits the identification information of the autonomous moving body10B to the autonomous moving body 10A (S1506). Likewise, thecommunication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10B transmits theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10B to theautonomous moving body 10C (S1507).

Next, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomous movingbody 10A calculates the transmission/reception probability value on thebasis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10A and theidentification information of the autonomous moving body 10B (S1508).Moreover, the data transmission/reception unit 105 of the autonomousmoving body 10B also calculates the transmission/reception probabilityvalue on the basis of the parameters of the autonomous moving body 10Band the identification information of the autonomous moving bodies 10Aand C (S1509). Furthermore, the data transmission/reception unit 105 ofthe autonomous moving body 10C also calculates thetransmission/reception probability value on the basis of the parametersof the autonomous moving body 10C and the identification information ofthe autonomous moving body 10B (S1510).

Next, the autonomous moving body 10B transmits the information forexecuting the motion to the autonomous moving body 10A (S1511).Likewise, the autonomous moving body 10B transmits the information forexecuting the motion to the autonomous moving body 10C (S1512). Next,the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10B causes thedrive unit 109 and the output unit 110 to execute an operationindicating the transmission of the information for executing the motionto the autonomous moving bodies 10A and 10C (S1513). Next, thecommunication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10A transmits, tothe autonomous moving body 10B, information indicating a permission totransmit the information for executing the motion (S1514). Next, thecommunication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10C transmits, tothe autonomous moving body 10B, the information indicating thepermission to transmit the information for executing the motion (S1515).

Next, the communication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10Btransmits the information for executing the motion, which is determinedin step S1509, to the autonomous moving body 10A (31516) Likewise, thecommunication unit 108 of the autonomous moving body 10B transmits theinformation to the autonomous moving body 10C (S1517).

Next, the data mutation unit 106 of the autonomous moving body 10Bexecutes an operation corresponding to the information transmitted insteps S1516 and S1517 (S1518). Next, the autonomous moving body 10Acalculates the mutation probability value on the basis of theinformation for executing the motion, which is received in step S1516(S1519). Likewise, the data mutation unit 106 of the autonomous movingbody 10C also calculates the mutation probability value on the basis ofthe information for executing the motion, which is received in stepS1517 (S1520).

Next, on the basis of the mutation probability value calculated in stepS1520, the data mutation unit 106 of the autonomous moving body 10Cmutates the information received in step S1519 (S1521). Next, the motioncontrol unit 107 of the autonomous moving body 10C causes the executionof the motion on the basis of the information mutated in step S1523(S1522). Moreover, the motion control unit 107 of the autonomous movingbody 10A causes the execution of the motion on the basis of theinformation received in step S1518 (S1523), and the autonomous movingbody 10A and the autonomous moving body 10B end the motions.

The transmission/reception of the information for executing the motionby the autonomous moving body 10 is expressed by the action as describedabove, whereby the user becomes able to understand that the autonomousmoving body 10 has been provided with the motion from the otherautonomous moving body 10.

Incidentally, though the autonomous moving body 10 has been described asan apparatus that expresses the execution of the transmission/receptionof the internal data, the apparatus that expresses the execution of thetransmission/reception of the internal data is not limited to theautonomous moving body 10. For example, a head-mounted display (HMD) mayexpress, to the user, transmission/reception of the internal datato/from another head-mounted display.

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining that the head-mounted displayexpresses the execution of the transmission/reception of the internaldata. FIG. 28 shows a user UH1 who wears a head-mounted display H1 and auser UH2 who wears a head-mounted display H2. Note that the internaldata mentioned herein means, for example, map information. The mapinformation may include information acquired by the head-mounted displayH2, for example, such as traffic congestion information on a road.

In FIG. 28, the head-mounted display H1 and the head-mounted display H2are made capable of transmitting/receiving the internal data. In anexample of FIG. 28, the head-mounted display H1 receives map informationHM from the head-mounted display H2, and displays the received mapinformation HM to the user UH1.

Moreover, the head-mounted display may additionally change arecognizable target by transmitting/receiving, for example, informationrelated to recognition, such as a class of the recognition target. Thehead-mounted display transmits/receives the information to/from theother head-mounted display, thus making it possible to dynamicallyupdate the information.

4. Summary

As described above, the autonomous moving body 10 according to theembodiment of the present disclosure is able to express the execution ofthe transmission/reception of the internal data by the action whentransmitting/receiving the internal data. According to such aconfiguration, the user will be able to recognize the changes of therecognition and motion of the autonomous moving body 10, and moreover,becomes able to enjoy the change in the motion of the autonomous movingbody 10 more.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed above in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings,the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to suchexamples. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in thetechnical field of the present disclosure can come up with variouschanges or modifications within the scope of the technical ideadescribed in the claims, and it is naturally understood that these alsobelong to the technical scope of the present disclosure.

Moreover, the effects described in the present description are merelyexplanatory or exemplary and are not restrictive. That is, thetechniques according to the present disclosure may exert other effectsapparent to those skilled in the art from the description of the presentdescription, in addition to the above-described effects or in place ofthe above-described effects.

Furthermore, it is also possible to create a program for causinghardware such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, which are built into acomputer, to exert equivalent functions to those of the configuration ofthe autonomous moving body 10, and a computer-readable recording mediumthat records the program can also be provided.

Furthermore, each step related to the processing of the autonomousmoving body 10 in the present description does not necessarily have tobe processed in chronological order in the order described in theflowcharts. For example, each step related to the processing of theautonomous moving body 10 may be processed in an order different fromthe order described in the flowcharts, or may be processed in parallel.

Note that configurations as below also belong to the technical scope ofthe present disclosure.

(1)

An information processing apparatus including:

a motion control unit that controls a motion of an autonomous movingbody,

in which, when transmitting/receiving internal data related to theautonomous moving body, the motion control unit causes the autonomousmoving body to express execution of the transmission/reception of theinternal data by an action.

(2)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(1),

in which whether or not the transmission/reception of the internal datais to be executed is determined according to a magnitude relationshipbetween a transmission/reception probability value and a predeterminedthreshold value, and

the transmission/reception probability value is calculated on the basisof a parameter related to the autonomous moving body.

(3)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(2),

in which the parameter related to the autonomous moving body includes aninfluence value of the autonomous moving body.

(4)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(2) or (3), further including

a data transmission/reception unit that determines whether or not toexecute the transmission/reception of the internal data according to themagnitude relationship between the transmission/reception probabilityvalue and the predetermined threshold value, and transmits/receives theinternal data in a case of having determined to transmit/receive theinternal data.

(5)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of theabove-described (1) to (4),

in which the internal data is information related to recognitionprocessing of the autonomous moving body, and

the motion control unit causes the autonomous moving body to express theexecution of the transmission/reception of the internal data by anaction.

(6)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(5),

in which the internal data is a class of a recognition target, and

when transmitting/receiving the class, the motion control unit causesthe autonomous moving body to express the transmission/reception of theclass by an action.

(7)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(6),

in which the internal data further includes information for executing amotion of the autonomous moving body, the motion corresponding to therecognition target, and

when transmitting/receiving the class and the information for executingthe motion of the autonomous moving body, the motion corresponding tothe recognition target, the motion control unit causes the autonomousmoving body to execute a motion corresponding to the class.

(8)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(6),

in which the internal data is filter information related to aconvolutional neural network, and

when transmitting/receiving the filter information, the motion controlunit causes the autonomous moving body to express execution of thetransmission/reception of the filter information by an action.

(9)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(5),

in which the internal data is an environment map, and

when transmitting/receiving the environment map, the motion control unitcauses the autonomous moving body to execute a search that is based onthe environment map.

(10)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(9),

in which the internal data is an attention level map corresponding tothe environment map, and

when transmitting/receiving the environment map and the attention levelmap, the motion control unit causes the autonomous moving body toexecute a search that is based on the environment map and the attentionlevel map.

(11)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(5),

in which the internal data is a feature quantity for use in userrecognition, and

when transmitting/receiving the feature quantity, the motion controlunit causes the autonomous moving body to execute a search for a usercorresponding to the feature quantity.

(12)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of theabove-described (1) to (4),

in which the internal data is information for executing the motion ofthe autonomous moving body, and

when transmitting/receiving the information for executing the motion,the motion control unit causes the autonomous moving body to execute themotion corresponding to the information as a target of thetransmission/reception.

(13)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(12),

in which the information for executing the motion of the autonomousmoving body is information related to joint control of the autonomousmoving body, and

when transmitting/receiving the information related to the jointcontrol, the motion control unit causes the autonomous moving body toexecute the motion corresponding to the information as a target of thetransmission/reception.

(14)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of theabove-described (1) to (13),

in which the internal data is mutated on the basis of a parameterrelated to the autonomous moving body.

(15)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(14),

in which whether or not the internal data is to be mutated is determinedon the basis of a mutation probability value.

(16)

The information processing apparatus according to the above-described(15),

in which the mutation probability value is calculated on the basis ofthe parameter related to the autonomous moving body.

(17)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of theabove-described (14) to (16), further including

a data mutation unit that mutates the internal data on the basis of theparameter related to the autonomous moving body whentransmitting/receiving the internal data.

(18)

The information processing apparatus according any one of theabove-described (1) to (17),

in which the transmission/reception of the internal data is executedto/from another autonomous moving body.

(19)

An information processing method including:

causing a processor to control a motion of an autonomous moving body;and

causing the processor to, when transmitting/receiving internal datarelated to the autonomous moving body, cause the autonomous moving bodyto express execution of the transmission/reception of the internal databy an action.

(20)

A program for causing a computer to function as an informationprocessing apparatus including:

a motion control unit that controls a motion of an autonomous movingbody,

in which, when transmitting/receiving internal data related to theautonomous moving body, the motion control unit causes the autonomousmoving body to express execution of the transmission/reception of theinternal data by an action.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   10 Autonomous moving body-   101 Input unit-   102 Recognition unit-   103 Learning unit-   104 Storage unit-   105 Data transmission/reception unit-   106 Data mutation unit-   107 Motion control unit-   108 Communication unit-   109 Drive unit-   110 Output unit-   20 Network

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a motion control unitthat controls a motion of an autonomous moving body, wherein, whentransmitting/receiving internal data related to the autonomous movingbody, the motion control unit causes the autonomous moving body toexpress execution of the transmission/reception of the internal data byan action.
 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein whether or not the transmission/reception of the internal datais to be executed is determined according to a magnitude relationshipbetween a transmission/reception probability value and a predeterminedthreshold value, and the transmission/reception probability value iscalculated on the basis of a parameter related to the autonomous movingbody.
 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the parameter related to the autonomous moving body includes aninfluence value of the autonomous moving body.
 4. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a datatransmission/reception unit that determines whether or not to executethe transmission/reception of the internal data according to themagnitude relationship between the transmission/reception probabilityvalue and the predetermined threshold value, and transmits/receives theinternal data in a case of having determined to transmit/receive theinternal data.
 5. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the internal data is information related to recognitionprocessing of the autonomous moving body, and the motion control unitcauses the autonomous moving body to express the execution of thetransmission/reception of the internal data by an action.
 6. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein theinternal data is a class of a recognition target, and whentransmitting/receiving the class, the motion control unit causes theautonomous moving body to express the transmission/reception of theclass by an action.
 7. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the internal data further includes information forexecuting a motion of the autonomous moving body, the motioncorresponding to the recognition target, and when transmitting/receivingthe class and the information for executing the motion of the autonomousmoving body, the motion corresponding to the recognition target, themotion control unit causes the autonomous moving body to execute amotion corresponding to the class.
 8. The information processingapparatus according to claim 6, wherein the internal data is filterinformation related to a convolutional neural network, and whentransmitting/receiving the filter information, the motion control unitcauses the autonomous moving body to express execution of thetransmission/reception of the filter information by an action.
 9. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein theinternal data is an environment map, and when transmitting/receiving theenvironment map, the motion control unit causes the autonomous movingbody to execute a search that is based on the environment map.
 10. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein theinternal data is an attention level map corresponding to the environmentmap, and when transmitting/receiving the environment map and theattention level map, the motion control unit causes the autonomousmoving body to execute a search that is based on the environment map andthe attention level map.
 11. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 5, wherein the internal data is a feature quantityfor use in user recognition, and when transmitting/receiving the featurequantity, the motion control unit causes the autonomous moving body toexecute a search for a user corresponding to the feature quantity. 12.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theinternal data is information for executing the motion of the autonomousmoving body, and when transmitting/receiving the information forexecuting the motion, the motion control unit causes the autonomousmoving body to execute the motion corresponding to the information as atarget of the transmission/reception.
 13. The information processingapparatus according to claim 12, wherein the information for executingthe motion of the autonomous moving body includes information related tojoint control of the autonomous moving body, and whentransmitting/receiving the information related to the joint control, themotion control unit causes the autonomous moving body to execute themotion corresponding to the information as a target of thetransmission/reception.
 14. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the internal data is mutated on a basis ofa parameter related to the autonomous moving body.
 15. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein whether or not theinternal data is to be mutated is determined on a basis of a mutationprobability value.
 16. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 15, wherein the mutation probability value is calculated on abasis of the parameter related to the autonomous moving body.
 17. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 14, furthercomprising a data mutation unit that mutates the internal data on abasis of the parameter related to the autonomous moving body whentransmitting/receiving the internal data.
 18. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission/reception ofthe internal data is executed to/from another autonomous moving body.19. An information processing method comprising: causing a processor tocontrol a motion of an autonomous moving body; and causing the processorto, when transmitting/receiving internal data related to the autonomousmoving body, cause the autonomous moving body to express execution ofthe transmission/reception of the internal data by an action.
 20. Aprogram for causing a computer to function as an information processingapparatus including: a motion control unit that controls a motion of anautonomous moving body, wherein, when transmitting/receiving internaldata related to the autonomous moving body, the motion control unitcauses the autonomous moving body to express execution of thetransmission/reception of the internal data by an action.